Nineteen people have been hit with federal charges for allegedly running a brazen, open air drug market in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park — flooding the popular haven with fentanyl, heroin and crack cocaine.
The drugs dealt by the alleged career dealers led to two deaths last year alone — including an 18-year-old from Aspen, Colorado who had only just graduated high school and a 43-year-old homeless person who’d been living in the park, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.
“In addition to those deaths, the defendants’ drug dealing has also caused numerous other overdoses that created a substantial risk of death and caused other injuries,” court papers state.
“The defendants are aware that their drugs cause overdoses, including in and around the Washington Square Park Area, but have nonetheless continued their coordinated and extensive sale of these deadly drugs.”
Those behind the sophisticated operation have already been nabbed by cops at least 80 times, collectively, for a spate of drug-related offenses within the past five years, the indictment, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, alleges.
Despite being thrown behind bars, the drug peddlers allegedly just return to selling the narcotics as soon as they are eventually cut loose, according to court documents.
The operation is largely made up of Bloods gangbangers, as well as a network of dealers who answer to John Livigni – an alleged mastermind who was among those rounded up in the latest batch of chargers.
As part of the network, the two groups allegedly had an agreement not to sell in each other’s territory – and each had different colored bags to differentiate their drugs, the indictment states.
The first death tied to the Washington Square Park network unfolded in June last year when the teen, who had just flown in from Colorado to start a summer internship on Broadway, asked someone to tee up cocaine for his arrival.
“Regular mans was not there Got u some from another trusted guy was just a Iii more expensive If you end up not liking it I can get u from the regular mans asap but tbh [to be honest] this s–t gas,” the person ended up texting the teen after purchasing the drugs, court papers state.
The teen responded, “Perfect, I trust you.”
He was found dead of a drug overdose the following day, the indictment states. His body was discovered in the Manhattan apartment where he’d been staying with a purple bag of drugs under his wrist.
Less than six months later, the homeless victim’s body was found outside a Greenwich Village apartment building.
Cops discovered empty blue bags allegedly sold by the Livigni Team and purple baggies often used by the Bloods gang right next to the body, the indictment states.
Those charged in the Washington Square Park network have been slapped with conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death charges.
The defendants named in the indictment include: Maliek Lugg, John Livigni, Curtis Miller, Tommy Brown, Christian Cortez, Jared Covington, Nazzir Washington, Vito Haskins, Felix Cuevas, Manny Pina, Andre Bethea, Sean Thom, Bishara Strother, Robert Johnson, Henry Rodriguez, Peter Rodriguez, Daniel Negron, Brandi Felci and Blake Tannenbaum.
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